The Quick Guide to Reading in Color

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Help Needed Re: Poetry

We were given an awful assignment the other day in my British Literature class. Immediately I knew that at least I wouldn't be at a complete loss since I have at least 300 people who love to read and at least a few of them must be familiar with the topic introduced ;)

The assignment is to memorize 100 lines of poetry by a British poet. The poet can also be from a former colony of Britain (India, Jamaica, Nigeria, etc.) and I can memorize the works of more than one poet (i.e. ten lines from one, forty from another, etc.). Besides the obvious problem of memorizing 100 lines (of which I have no doubt I will fail miserably at), I'm also at a loss for finding British poets. Oh sure, I could Google them. And I intend to. But I would love to receive recommendations from people who love poetry and have favorite poets. I would prefer humorous poems since I have a hard time delivering emotional poems, but I would be up for the challenge of attempting an intense poem. I would prefer British poets of color, but honestly, I'm willing to settle for a female, humorous poet. Above all, I would love some funny poets.

In sum: BRITISH POET RECOMMENDATIONS NEEDED

You can leave them in the comments or email me. It would be especially awesome if you included the name of the poet and your favorite poem by them. I look forward to reading some great poetry (and shudder at the idea of memorizing it) :)

I know he's white AND male, BUT if you're a fan, Roald Dahl has a collection of fractured fairy tale poems called Revolting Rhymes. They're quite funny. Here's a link to Cinderella: http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/55895-Roald-Dahl-Cinderella

I don't know if this is cheating, but you MUST try Grace Nichols if you haven't already. She wasn't born in Britain, but she became a Brit citizen about 40 years ago (I think - must check that). I highly recommend you read THE FAT BLACK WOMAN'S POEMS. Even if it's not right for you reading aloud (she has a very Caribbean voice and cadence to her work), they are cool! Love this one:

The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping

Shopping in London winteris a real drag for the fat black womangoing from store to storein search of accommodating clothesand de weather so cold

Look at the frozen thin mannequinsfixing her with grinand de pretty face salegalsexchanging slimming glancesthinking she don't notice

Lord is aggravating

Nothing soft and bright and billowingto flow like breezy sunlightwhen she walking

The fat black woman curses in Swahili / Yorubaand nation language under her breathingall this journeying and journeying

The fat black woman could only concludethat when it come to fashionthe choice is lean

I'm not great at poetry, so this answer is a bit not-quite-what-you-asked-for...Robert Service (Canadian) wrote wonderful WWI poetry. My favorite is Victory Stuff (it's all about the soldiers coming home and feeling awkward at the armistice celebrations since they are reminders of the bad side of the war). Here's a link: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/victory-stuff/

Oh I loved the poem about the Fat Black Woman shopping for winter clothes!

I know one Russian poet descended from an African grandfather (no joking!) and his name is Pushkin. Maybe you would like one of his poems (translated into English of course)? One of them, entitled "Winter evening" I quote below:

The storm wind covers the skyWhirling the fleecy snow drifts,Now it howls like a wolf,Now it is crying, like a lost child,Now rustling the decayed thatchOn our tumbledown roof,Now, like a delayed traveller,Knocking on our window pane.

Our wretched little cottageIs gloomy and dark.Why do you sit all silentHugging the window, old gran?Has the howling of the stormWearied you, at last, dear friend?Or are you dozing fitfullyUnder the spinning wheel's humming?

Let us drink, dearest friendTo my poor wasted youth.Let us drink from grief - Where's the glass?Our hearts at least will be lightened.Sing me a song of how the bluetitQuietly lives across the sea.Sing me a song of how the young girlWent to fetch water in the morning.

The storm wind covers the skyWhirling the fleecy snow driftsNow it howls like a wolf,Now it is crying, like a lost child.Let us drink, dearest friendTo my poor wasted youth.Let us drink from grief - Where's the glass?Our hearts at least will be lightened.

if you want to memorize english poetry from an indian poet,i`ii refer to ravindranath tagore,whose 150th birth annivesary is being celebrated this year.there are thosands of lovely poems in hindi,the official language of india. once you learn hindi,you will love to recite hindi poetry from vidyapati to buddhinath mishra

Well I'm a bit of a poetry geek and I love memorizing poetry, so this assignment actually sounds fun... Two I'd recommend: Philip Larkin (white and British) has the most AMAZING dry wit in his poems. I love them. One of my all-time favorites is his "Aubade" (http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/philip-larkin/aubade/) although he's got other great ones that are somewhat less depressing.

Also, have you looked at Dereck Walcott? His poetry is GORGEOUS; he's from (I think) St. Lucia, one of the Lesser Antilles islands in the Caribbean- not sure if it's a former British colony, but from the themes he often writes about I am guessing it might be. His poem "Love after love" is one of my very favorites too.

I mentioned Srikanth Reddy a while ago. If you google you should be able to find most of his poems online. Benjamin Zephania is one of the most well known poet for teenagers and younger children. And I'll second the nomination for Wendy Cope because she's so funny.

Heya¡­my very first comment on your site. ,I have been reading your blog for a while and thought I would completely pop in and drop a friendly note. . It is great stuff indeed. I also wanted to ask..is there a way to subscribe to your site via email?

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